Pakistan: Emergency and chaos

A whirlwind visit by US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte has had little effect on the situation in Pakistan. Despite Washington's advice, martial law has not been lifted and the constitution has not been revived. In the meantime, Musharraf's army remains engaged in a controversial campaign against the so-called local Taliban in the picturesque Swat mountains as the Pakistani strongman announces a schedule for critical general elections.

In contravention of Negroponte's demands, the judiciary and media remain the prime targets of Musharraf's second martial law.

Failing to find the required 17 judges for a new Supreme Court - one loyal to Musharraf - the court has been reduced to 12 judges, all of whom have taken an oath of allegiance to the general. Further striking at the court's authority, Musharraf on Wednesday promulgated a presidential decree establishing that no court could rule on the imposition of the 3 November state emergency.

"Even his own hand-picked judges do not enjoy Musharraf's confidence and cannot take up a petition challenging his decision to suspend the constitution," Abdullah Dogar, a senior lawyer at the Supreme Court, told ISN Security Watch in a telephone interview from the provincial capital Lahore.

The independent-minded Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and other judges have been under house arrest since 3 November, when they ruled that Musharraf's second martial law and suspension of the constitution was illegal and unwarranted.

As Negroponte arrived in Islamabad 17 November, on orders from Musharraf top Pakistani networks Geo TV and ARY Digital were taken off the air by authorities in Dubai, where their transmissions originate.

The two broadcasters already had been taken out of Pakistan's cable line-up, and the latest action means their signals are no long available by satellite. However, the Geo News website has so far evaded the government effort to block it from streaming news bulletins.

While Islamabad has announced the release of political prisoners, protesting journalists have faced brutal baton charges and arrests. In the coastal metropolis of Karachi alone over 200 journalists were arrested earlier this month.

A week before imposing a state of emergency across the country, Musharraf launched a military operation in Swat, invoking Western fears of a Taliban backlash in Pakistan. So far, dozens of people have been killed and thousands displaced while media has had little access to the situation on the ground.

"The Swat operation is Musharraf's advertising campaign for the American audience," Roedad Khan, a veteran bureaucrat and civil society activist, told ISN Security Watch. He questioned the timing of the military campaign.

However, breaking with tradition, Musharraf may be unsuccessful in pleasing Taliban-wary observers this time around, especially ahead of general elections at a time when the public is highly critical of what it views as Islamabad's image as a puppet of Washington.

Eleventh-hour allies

In the meantime, a majority of political parties have rejected the 8 January date set for general elections. Both liberal and Islamist parties are seeking a restoration of the constitution, the lifting of curbs on the media and the re-establishment of the Election Commission before any polls are allowed to take place.

The Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP), led by Benazir Bhutto, has yet to decide whether it will participate in the 8 January polls. Top Islamist leader Qazi Hussain Ahmad is in talks with other opposition parties in his bid to boycott the elections.

Nawaz Sharif, the two-time prime minister exiled in Saudi Arabia, spoke to ISN Security Watch via telephone earlier this week. "We do not desire to participate in these sh